Rand Paul to John Kerry: "Do You Agree With Candidate Barack Obama or President Barack Obama?"

Kevin Glass

1/25/2013 10:57:00 AM - Kevin Glass

At yesterday's Senate hearing for John Kerry's nomination for Secretary of state, Sen. Rand Paul had tough questions for his colleague - particularly in contrasting Barack Obama's flip-flop positions on executive authority and making the issue of executive authority personal to Sen. Kerry when referring to the bombing of Cambodia.

"I agree with candidate Barack Obama, who said in 2007 that the President doesn't have the power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack," Sen. Paul said. "I want to know if you agree with candidate Barack Obama or President Barack Obama, who took us to war in Libya without congressional authority, unilaterally."

Among the basic questions that Paul asks of Kerry: If the U.S. was wrong to bomb Cambodia without congressional authorization (and it was), then why was it A-OK for Obama to join in bombing runs over Libya?

Another excellent question raised by Paul: Why are we sending big fancy fighter jets to Egypt even as the leader of that country is going full Capt. Queeg, with a fixation on the Jews standing in for obsession about stolen strawberries?

This sort of common-sense exploration of the WTF that is U.S. foreign policy should be at the forefront of any American who gives a hell about limited, legitimate government and the Constitution.

My one criticism of Paul here is his failure to press Kerry on his proferred excuse, that Obama had no time to ask Congress for action because Qadaffi was about to put thousands of Libyan rebels in Benghazi to the sword. Nonsense. Go look at the timeline leading up to the west’s military intervention.